Click to view a sample of the MBE Rules in PDF format or MBE Rules in MP3 format. Please look at and listen to the samples before you purchase. For example, to prevent copying/sharing, each page is watermarked and I do not identify which MBE rule is associated with which question (although I do state which source each rule is from). In addition, while many examinees love the MP3 voice, others hate it, so please do your due diligence prior to subscribing since I do not offer refunds due to the open nature of my work.

Since 1991, NCBE has released 2,027 MBE questions from past MBE exams. I wrote rules for all the 2,000+ released NCBE MBE questions (these are the same questions in Adaptibar/Strategies & Tactics, Barmax, etc.). This includes MBE rules for all the 200 MBE Complete Practice Exam questions released in December 2021, the 16 MBE Civil Procedure questions released in 2020 and the 210 NCBE MBE Study Aid questions that were released in 2019. Much like the recently released MEE questions reflect the current MEE, the recently released MBE questions (OPE 1-4 and MBE Study Aid) reflect the current MBE. I separate the important NCBE MBE rules from the less-important rules so you will find an “OPE” MBE Rules outline + MP3 of 860 questions (rules for OPE 1-4, MBE Study Aid and current Sample Questions – basically questions from 2006 and later) and then a full MBE Rules outline + MP3 of 2,027 questions (the OPE questions plus rules for 1991, 1992 and 1998 NCBE exam books – basically questions from 1998 and earlier). I separate the important rules from the less important rules so subscribers can focus on the 860 important rules but still spend some time reviewing the 1,100+ less important ones. This is because while any of the 860 legal concepts in the “OPE” MBE Rules can be tested on the upcoming MBE (and therefore important), there are a number of legal concepts in the “NON-OPE” MBE Rules that are no longer tested (making this older set of questions less important). This means you will see every legal concept that NCBE has tested (and released as a practice question) from 1991 to present. If you answer the released NCBE questions, this serves as a great second perspective and if you don’t answer all the released NCBE questions, this serves as an excellent hedge.

These rules are an excellent alternative method to acquire the black letter law behind what NCBE has tested in the past in a very efficient way. More so, these rules are organized by category so you can see the different ways each MBE category has been tested. For example, a subscriber who failed with an MBE of 130.1 (about 57% correct) and then passed July 2018 with an MBE of 142.2 (about 67% correct) told me: “If I had to attribute my passing to just one thing, I’d have to say that focusing on the MBE and reviewing the MBE rules would be the answer… I kept going through your rules as your rules were brilliant.. I even used them on the morning and afternoon of the MBE, which may I add, I finished an hour early both in the morning and afternoon sessions.. At first thought that I must have gotten the questions wrong because I finished so early!” Furthermore, listening to MP3 of the rules is an effective way to learn the material by forming different memory impressions. For example, a subscriber who passed with an MBE of 140.5 after failing with an MBE of 128.1 told me: “I believe in your method and system and like i said, if i can contribute to it further in any way – i would love to. In terms of what single thing helped me pass the MBE – i think it was writing out the MBE rules and listening to the mp3s the night before. My problem was that id get anxious and think i forgot everything – so listening to the mp3s in 2x speed and going over my mbe rules was big for me. I noticed that I’d make the same mistakes on similar issues over and over again so making sure I got those down really helped. Hearing it read out loud to me with the mp3s was big too.”

The MP3 rules are available on the subscription site in three formats: (1) a single prioritized MP3 file; (2) a ZIP file that contains 7 MP3s where the rules are broken down by subject; and (3) individual MP3s of the seven MBE subjects. The MP3s can be downloaded or streamed. The corresponding PDF of the MBE rules serves as a transcript of the MP3. I suggest examinees review the OPE rules (860 rules) each time the full MBE Rule Outline (2,027 rules) is reviewed. This will mean the OPE rules will be reviewed twice as much in the course of your study. Examinees should alternate between reading and listening to the rules because this will form multiple memory impressions. In your studying, you should be continually making active and varied memory impressions. A common way to form different memory impressions is through auditory learning. To enable examinees to make such auditory memory impressions and better remember the material, I created audio files of the MBE rules. I generally advise examinees (especially auditory learners) to listen to bar materials while commuting/working out/showering/etc. or if simply want to give your eyes a rest. For example, a subscriber that passed J17 with a written score of 142.1 (MBE of 141.9) after failing F17 with a written score of 134.3 (MBE of 127.7) told me: “I listened to the MP3s when I was cooking or exercising and after a while I just felt I knew it all.” As another examinee told me: “the MP3s are great when I am tired of reading.” Listening to the material forms different memory impressions than reading it, so on the exam if you don’t remember something you read, you may instead recall something you heard. Anytime you cannot actively study, listening to MP3s is a great way to passively study. If you have never listened to MP3s of the MBE rules, you should give them a try. As one examinee told me: “I realized during this process that I actually am much more of an auditory learner, and I found myself able to focus more and retain more from audio or audio with text than I ever have just by reading. So the fact that you provide so many audio resources made a big difference for me.” If you pause the MP3s on occasion and verbalize what you are listening to, you can even convert your passive listening into active studying. I find that listening to MP3s while commuting/working out was helpful because you are a captive audience. Even if you don’t think you are an auditory learner, you should give the MP3s a try – as one subscriber who passed told me: “I need the soothing voice of your automated mp3.“

Typically, subscribers rank my MBE Rules outline as 2nd or 3rd most helpful in their MBE studies (the UBE MASTER outline is ranked most helpful, but this is only available through my UBE Course). For example, as one examinee recently told me: “Knowing now that I passed, I can confidently say that your MBE Rules outline was indispensable. Even though I probably completed only 400-500 practice MBEs, I really focused on thinking about why I got answers wrong, what aspect of the law I didn’t quite understand, and creating rules that directly addressed that misunderstanding. I then reviewed these rules multiple times.” This is because the past questions serve as a good reflection of the legal concepts currently tested. A 2004 research report entitled A Multivariate Generalizability Analysis of the MBE concluded that “variance component estimates for sub-tests for the February and July administrations are very stable, which indicates that the table of specifications for the MBE is well-defined and faithfully followed, and various forms constructed based on the table of specifications are quite ‘parallel’ to each other.” This is why reviewing NCBE questions is so important. Because the MBE forms are ‘parallel’ to each other, reviewing released MBE questions is the best way to familiarize yourself with future MBE questions. Granted, the farther back you go, the less relevant the questions become (NCBE even warns about this), but there is no better way of understanding the MBE exam than by examining the law tested in the released questions by the exam maker. Accordingly, you should judiciously look at the previous MBE questions and exams, especially these OPE questions.

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